Davits for Air Floor Dink

[Tony B]

Normally I hang my RIB's from davits with the bow higher so if it rains, the water will drain out the stern.

I now have a 12 foot Saturn soft bottom inflatable boat with an air floor.

Can this be hung on davits without folding up or causing damage?

[jyasaki]

I would guess yes, but try it, maybe? Worst case you may have to rig a strap midships.

jky

[Landlockedpirate]

Lots of air decks spend their life on davits. Easiest way is to put 2 eye bolts through the transom and use a strap for the stern and attach a a strap directly to the 2 tow eyes on the side of the bow.

[Tony B]

Thanks Pirate. Running 2 eye bolts through the stern is exactly what I was thinking. I was also thinking of using the bow lifting eye but your idea of the two towing eyes sounds better because it would shorten the 'span' of the lifting points.

I in the past, I have had inflatables with plywood floors that helped keep them from sagging and way back in the 1960's I had an Italian made inflatable that had a 2 piece wooden keel that snapped in place and bolted together in the middle with a single bolt. In the early 2000's I had a mercury Marine 8' footer (I think) but cant remember if the floor was an air floor or not and I hung that from davits. It's crazy that I cant remember but I didn't use it much and it was lost with Hurricane Katrina. Gettin' old is a bitch.

Question: You refer to using a strap on the stern. This is probably a language thing. Are you referring to what Americans call a strap and somehow wrapping it under boat and through the bow eyes or are you referring to a strap like in a rope?

Thanks in advance
Tony B

[Landlockedpirate]

Use the 2 front points because it spreads the load as well (rather than placing all of the weight on the single tow ring). The boat should stay rigid even without a floor when its on the davits so dont worry about that. Obviously make sure you leave the bung out or things can go down hill very quickly.

Straps or slings I was refering to are like this:




They spread the load and easily clip into the transom eyes and tow eyes.

[Tony B]

Thanks, that cleared that up. Now If I could just find them this side of the pond.
Looks like something I can find in auto parts stores.
Thanks again and so far we are still using the same language. LOL

[Tony B]

Originally Posted by Landlockedpirate

....... ..... and attach a a strap directly to the 2 tow eyes on the side of the bow.

I didn't think that would work and it didn't, at least for me. When I brought the 2 tow eyes to a common point to lift, they squeeze in on the sides as I thought they might and that didn't look healthy for the dink. I think I will have to make a spreader bar to prevent this. My next observation was when I pulled upwards to lift it by the towing eyes, it just didn't look good for the towing eyes because they were glued and designed for a forward pull and not an upward pull. Keep in mind that when I hang my dink on davits, I always keep the bow higher for drainage. This higher angle will probably make the dink want to slide backwards. I guess I could put another strap under the dink and through the tow eyes to prevent it from sliding backwards.

Does anyone else here use the towing eyes for lifting points?
Am I worrying needlessly?

[Landlockedpirate]

If the towing eyes are the wrong angle, you need to fit dedicated davit points.

Inflatable boat dinghy tender rib davit D Ring patches for honwave wetline etc | eBay

I always put straps under the dinghy and over the davits once the inflatable is in position, these stop the dinghy moving about and take most of the load when under way.

[Tony B]

I'm going to try to get it on the davits with the bow lifting handle. That's how I always hung my other dinks.
If I install d-Rings, I will still need a spreader bar. Pinching the sides together with a strap and hanging the dink that way is probably not good for it.

[Landlockedpirate]

Originally Posted by Tony B

I'm going to try to get it on the davits with the bow lifting handle. That's how I always hung my other dinks.
If I install d-Rings, I will still need a spreader bar. Pinching the sides together with a strap and hanging the dink that way is probably not good for it.

Fair enough, but |I doubt the handle will take the point load.

[Tony B]

I have always used the front lift handle on all of my inflatables. The only reason I was looking for another way is because the dink is 12' and my stern is 10' and my davits are about 1' short of the sides of the boat. This will cause the dink to stick out a little.
When you bring your straps together to a single lift point, are you concerned about the squeezing and pinching-in of the sides? The only way that I know of to eliminate that is with a spreader. Any other ideas or do you just live with the pinching?